Post-baccalaureate nurse residency program

Now is the time for the profession of nursing to move forward in support of a post-baccalaureate nurse residency program. New graduates in acute care hospitals are faced with caring for acutely ill patients with complex needs. No longer are patients with low acuity admitted to the hospital, where new graduates could provide care to them as they learn their skills. Just as pharmacy has moved to a residency program because of the complexity of the pharmacy role, so must nursing. The specific knowledge required to practice nursing in today's acute care hospitals has increased the need for a nurse residency program. The partnership formed by the University HealthSystem Consortium and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing is moving forward with plans to have the residency program accredited. This is a necessary step to assure standards of excellence are met by all participating hospitals. Although the program is being developed and tested in academic health centers, once the testing is completed, the curriculum validated, and accreditation in place, it could be offered through partnerships of any hospital and baccalaureate school of nursing that meet accreditation standards. Those involved in the design of the residency program described view it as an important component in the professional development of new baccalaureate graduates and a long-range strategy for strengthening the practice of nursing in hospital settings and contributing to the reduction of vacancies in such settings. By reducing turnover in new graduates who begin their post-baccalaureate career in university hospital settings and enhancing their commitment to the nursing profession, it is hypothesized that nurse vacancies in such settings will decrease. Just as today's hospitals now see the Magnet Hospital forces of magnetism as the gold standard, hospitals of the future will also identify the accredited residency program as the gold standard and will seek to hire nurses who have completed a residency program.